Be At One to be even more fun after revamp

It’s not every day you walk into a classy city nightspot and see all the staff dancing on the bar to the delight of the crowd, writes Jon Boyle.

But then Be At One in The Hub is not your average bar – and that’s why us MK folk love it.

The venue is unique as the city’s only dedicated cocktail bar – specialising in serving drinks instead of jumping on the food bandwagon – and it offers a whopping 250 different cocktails.

Be At One’s philosophy of encouraging its bar staff to let loose and have fun with the guests only adds to the magic of the place – often leading to queues of excited revellers waiting to get in at weekends.

So it is with great pleasure that Celebrate:MK can reveal that even more of us will be able to join in with the fun from next month as the cosy venue is set to be extended as part of its refurbishment.

Be At One is taking over part of the Subway next door, raising the capacity from 90 people to 130, among a host of other improvements.

Manager Faustas Radvilas (pictured below) explained: “I’m so excited about the refurbishment, Be At One is going to be bigger and even better after our re-launch in March.

“Every year we are getting busier so we’ve outgrown our capacity, but after our extension more people will be able to come and join in with the fun rather than queuing outside!

“Aside from the venue being bigger, we are going to have more tables both inside and outside so that people can sit down and enjoy a drink.

“We’re adding more heaters to our outside area and we’re repainting the inside and changing a few other features.

“It doesn’t always look like we are open from the outside as it looks quite dark, so we are adding more lights too.

“People will notice a big difference. I’m really looking forward to it, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

The last night of trading before the refurbishment is on Saturday February 25, and the bar is scheduled to re-open for the weekend of March 10.

Faustas admitted that he and his team love working at Be At One, which contributes to the positive, vibrant atmosphere the bar enjoys.

He said: “I’m so happy because It was my number one priority when I came in a year ago to create a team who love the bar and love the job.

“It’s taken eight months for me and the area manager, Matt Fleming, to put together the bar team and now they will do everything for this bar and for the company.

“I’ve learned so much in my first year at the company myself as the training is great. “We offer more cocktails than any other bar in MK and the staff have to know all 250 of them, 100%.

“We don’t do food, apart from crisps, so all the training is very specific on how to serve the perfect drink and learning the specs.

“We are encouraged to be one big family with our guests. It’s not just about making a drink, it’s about interacting with our guests and making sure we are part of everything that’s going on to make them feel cosy and right at home. So the bar team are allowed to have fun!

“Sometimes it goes a little crazy but they know their limits – as long as they are happy and our guests are happy then I’m happy.”